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I have already started some of my veggies in the house. Everyone says I am crazy since our weather here in Massachusetts is so unpredictable. Last Year it rained all summer and our gardens did not do well at all. This year I am really hoping that the weather is better because I do put alot of work into my garden. Any suggestions.

Ok trying to get use to answering on the internet. I have small area in my back yard where I am going to plant I also have some that I will hang. I also have a few others that I want to plant that I brought that I want to plant.

Oh I loved Western Massachusetts, I used to live there in Goshen MA. Here's url below that I bought from Johnny's Selected Seeds in Maine's quick hoop benders' year round crop protection that I'd suggest you to buy them if it shall rain too much again like we had last year. These hoop houses really saved alot of my veggies! Hope we ll have a good summer this year :)
Good luck!
FawnVT

My name is Valerie and I am fairly new at gardening. I started my very first vegetable garden the year before last, and it was absolutely beautiful. I used companion gardening after much research on the subject. I am very fond of nature and so is my son. My son absolutely loves to grow his peas and eat the results! He has grown strawberries, spinach, sage, carrots and of course peas!

I come to a long line of gardeners and cooks, and I cannot wait to continue my endeavors this year. We rototilled a 15 x 15 plot for me to play with and I ordered some beautiful shrubs as well. I am excited to find a place among fellow gardeners!

Good morning from the mountains of western North Carolina. I am new to this forum and thought you folks might be the ones to ask this question. I have a problem with the neihborhood dogs and cats urinating and laying in my garden and have just about decided not to try again this year. I have looked everywhere for companion plants that might deter them so that I don't have to try fencing and other options. Can someone give me an idea of a companion plant that would help with this problem?

I know of no plants to put in to deter dogs and cats. You can buy or make a pepper spray for around the edge of your garden to deter dogs. To deter cats, you may have to use a physical barrier, such as chicken wire under the mulch, don't bury very deep, because cats will not be able to scratch the soil, and will roam elsewhere. Hope this is of some help. Darlene

I live in NC zone 7. And I have a sunroom that in the winter it is heated and i keep it at 72 degree, so I start all my vegetables and flowes inside. But, over the years the weather has been weird. I have tilled my garden over the last 2 weekends, adding compost, and composted cow manure. I grow cucumbers, better boy tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, butternut squash, 10 different herbs, watermelon, athena canaloupes, sunflowers, and other various perennials. I'm just not sure when it is safe to start putting these in the ground. We have been having warm days in 70's and 80's but, the nights have been cooler in the upper 40's and 50's. I just don't want to start planting and get hit with cold weather and lose everything. Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I love that the OFA is on-line, but I still buy a copy each year. They are about the only ones who get the weather right for Reno, Nevada. Speaking of Reno, NV, I have posted a question on the container gardening site, please read it and send me your best guess/replies. Hope you are all having a great April, 2010.

Hello i live in zone 9 near Tampa, Florida on 5 acres. I love sunflowers, however, every year a small black beetle burrows in the back of the sunflwer head and kills the flower, there are many on the plant, some times 30 or 40, any suggestions what type these beetles are and how to get rid of them, Never see them in my yeard till i plant sunflowers.

i live in a city& i have a kind of small back yard ,but i cant stand another yr. of wishing for the best growing areas ,so i went ahead and started my own annual flower garden right here.now im going to watch it grow!

Hi. I'm a devoted fan of Farmers Almanac, passed down to me from many generations of farmers and gardeners. I have some experiance in gardening. I had a successful organic garden, which I attribute largely to planting by the moon, soil ammendmant and companion planting. I have moved to a smaller space in the city, since then. I am in a new subdivision, so I'm starting from the beginning, topsoil and all. I would like to continue some vegie and fruit gardening despite the small size of my suburban lot. I still have alot to learn, and alot to do this summer, from tree's, to lawns, to flowers, fruits, vegies....in otherwords,you'll hear alot from me. :-)

I have varieties of geraniums. From past few weeks the buds of the geraniums are getting dry and yellow and fall off. I have planted them with miracle grow soil, added hyponex and once or twice a month use miracle grow fertilizer. all of them get enough sunlight. Please help.

Hello all. I am new to gardening in a plot. We live in a 55+ community and was able to get a garden plot this year. The size is about 15x20 with boxes built up. I have started seeds (flowers and veggies) and bought some plants (tomatoes and peppers) as well. Just want to say that I enjoy the Farmers Almanac and enjoy reading the forums for helpful tips; that I am sure I will be needing! Thanks everyone!

Although I'm not new to gardening or OFA, this is the first time that I've participated online. I live in zone 6 and am looking for a list that shows when vegetables and fruits come into season. I plan to can and freeze alot this year and need to know when to start seriously looking for these items at the farmers markets etc. Also, does anyone out there know how to dry fruits etc. without having to buy one of those expensive drying machines? I won't be able to garden this year, thus the questions. Any/all help is greatly appreciated.

My sister and I are trying the bucket tomatoes this year, we found out from a friend of my moms that if you put newspaper with a slit to let the tomato vine through it will stop the dirt from falling out the hole for the vine to go through the bottom of the bucket!

I have looked at my sunflower plants several different times at night and haven't been able to catch the bug or bugs that are doing the damage. They only eat part of leave where the stem and leafs begin. Totally eat out that area only. Any idea what bug maybe doing this or how to stop it.

buy some "insecticidal soap" and spray the area with it that the insect is eating. In-case you cannot find the soap, just take a few drops of dish soap, mix it with a quart of water and some dried hot pepper power, mix it up, spray on the effected areas, that should give em a bad taste in their mouths..

Hi, I love fresh vegetables and love to can my own Vegetables. I know what is in my jars. I would like to know what can be planted in the fall. How late can you plant I call them butter beans. Some people may call them lima beans. I also have my Dad's farmal super A tractor. I don't know what parts do what. Any help is welcome.

I planted my basil over one month ago and the plants grew into a large bush. Beautiful. They are in a pot. I harvested the first batch last week. The plants should have some nice new growth by now but something is eating the leaves. I can't find any bugs or remnants of bugs. What do you think is eating my basil? My neighbor suggested using a light soap and water solution in a sprayer to rid them. Before I do that I figured I'd check with you all.
Thank You for your help, Susan, Northern New Jersey.

Hey all, new to the site from just south of Boston ma. I grow veggies and fruit ^^ I have about 1000 sqft of veggie garden in 50 or 100 sqft raised beds and several small fruits such as strawberry, blueberry, blackberry and raspberry, apple and peach trees and a small grape vine collection. Glad to see some other Mass folks on the boards!

Hi,from Tampa,FL. The past few months I have made my first attempt at veggie gardening. Started with corn, black eyed peas, okra, cukes, tomatoes, radish, herbs and sunflowers. Everything took off like wildfire and grew way faster than I anticipated, as I have been learning via reading and advice from anyone claiming to know a thing or two. I've since added watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkin, peppers and flowers(marigold, daisy, cosmos). Corn did way better than expected, until the unruly heat set in about 2 wks ago. I got one good harvest from approx. 140 plants. I don't know if I should pull the plants at this point or if it's possible to bring them back to produce, I still think there is much life in them. Cukes did amazingly well and I decided to learn canning and pickled about 14 qts of dill pickles besides having fresh cucumber salads. The Cukes have also been hit by the heat and I'm thinking I should sow another batch. Peas also doing well, I pick about every other day, shell, snap and freeze immediately. Okra are just now coming in, I've found them to be pretty testy at germination stage. As I said this is my first time gardening and would appreciate any advice. Should I pull corn and sow something else in their place? What would be some good fall crop for my zone? And what is the best time for planting fall crops? Would another rotation of cukes do well in place of the heat stricken ones? Ah yes and last but not least, I am doing all of this organically. Time consuming but well worth knowing my kids can walk out and pick anything and eat it straight from the garden without the worries of pesticides. So I'd also love advice on organic pest control. I had a hard time keeping earworm under control with the corn and would like to have a better handle on them for next years planting. OK, I've rattled on a bit...lol. Thanks in advance for advice & pleasure meeting ya! Peace!

HI! I am from West Point, Mississippi. I am not sure what happened to my father-in-laws cucumbers, but they are very bitter. I was told that you cannot plant them by yellow squash. He did. Would this be the problem? They are also planted by an apple tree and are growing up the tree. Please HELP so he will not do this next year.

Sounds like you got Blossom End Rot.
Try and keep your watering of the plant consistent. A lack of Calcium will add to this as well. Grind up some egg shells in a blender with enough water to make is soupy, add this mix to the soil..

I live in St Augustine FL I guess I didn't pay enough attention to how Mom always planted the late garden...when is it best to start the seeds this time of year for a fall garden? The ground is pretty warm, really wet then really dry..

Hi there,
I had a pretty nice garden with my mother through my teens in S.E. PA and a nice one on my own through my 20's, 30's & early 40's in South Central PA. It was your typical garden with tomatoes, peppers, cukes, zukes, melons etc. I'm in a wheelchair now at 52 and have had to cut back my garden not only for the obvious reasons but for the fact that I've been invaded by groundhogs! I should have said the groundhogs cut back on my garden by chewing everything to the ground! They even got to my sunflowers & snapdragons! I'd come out of the house to water them & there would be nothing but little nubs about 1/4" tall sticking out of the ground! It was a mother & her 5 babies wreaking all the havoc. And to think, one of the little blighters had the nerve to stick his head through the fence as I was inspecting the damage! So, my garden turned out to be a bust this year but I'm ready now---I have cages my furry little beasties. I'm going to trap you & you're going for a little ride. Not Sopranos style ;)...my husband works at an auction yard on 163+ acres so they should adapt quite well. Once the whistle pigs are a distant memory I can concentrate on the best way to wheelchair garden. For now though, I'll just compost the remains of the veggie garden & start cleaning up my flower beds in anticipation of planting saffron crocus for some instant, last minute gratification. Then, daffys & tulips for next spring. I'll be back to ask questions & get ideas on a wheelchair friendly vegetable garden. Bye for now!

You might want to look into raised beds that you could reach from in the wheelchair, or maybe straw bale gardening.

I might be a far cry from being in a wheel chair, but I have taken the advice of others on here to make weeds etc. easier to reach with my extra weight and bad back, I just mostly am not flexible enough to handle the bending over, and have been using old tires to fill with dirt for my raised beds.

I'm your neighbor to the west.. Central Western PA, Sounds like you have done a lot of gardening through the years as most of us had. I found I had a Green Thumb when I was about 7 or so.. Mine has been turning colors as of late lol...

I came here to search for what is damaging plants in the S.E. I'm in E. Tx.
The few things I planted this year are struggling, I'm wondering if it's something in the rain like extra acid or the ozone.
Certain plants are not doing well this year and I keep them watered. Lots of plants in the 3 lots I have been working with have holes in them. Some just refuse to bloom.